Old timers trick is to use mercury. Mercury emulsifies lead (turns it into a liquid) and it pours right out of the barrel. I've got a pound of mercury that I've been using since the early 80's that still has plenty of life in it.

EDIT: Should be common knowledge but just in case it isn't; mercury is a hazardous material (just like lead is). Wear gloves when handling it and don't let it come in contact with your skin.

I normally just put a cork stopper in the chamber end of the barrel; pour in a little of the mercury and cover the muzzle end with my rubber gloved finger. Give the barrel a few shakes and pour off the mercury / lead back into the mercury bottle. Take about 10 seconds to remove even the worst lead fouling.

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"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
Thucydides circa 460 bc - c. 400 bc

Old timers trick is to use mercury. Mercury emulsifies lead (turns it into a liquid) and it pours right out of the barrel. I've got a pound of mercury that I've been using since the early 80's that still has plenty of life in it.

EDIT: Should be common knowledge but just in case it isn't; mercury is a hazardous material (just like lead is). Wear gloves when handling it and don't let it come in contact with your skin.

I normally just put a cork stopper in the chamber end of the barrel; pour in a little of the mercury and cover the muzzle end with my rubber gloved finger. Give the barrel a few shakes and pour off the mercury / lead back into the mercury bottle. Take about 10 seconds to remove even the worst lead fouling.

This is very interesting!

Regarding safety: Mercury can be inhaled as vapor at normal temperatures. It is much more toxic than metallic lead. I respect your experience, but would consider at least an OSHA mask.

Regarding safety: Mercury can be inhaled as vapor at normal temperatures. It is much more toxic than metallic lead. I respect your experience, but would consider at least an OSHA mask.

Yes it is true that mercury vapor can be inhaled; much like lead vapor can when casting lead bullets. I wouldn't argue the difference in the hazard as to be quite honest I'm not knowledgeable enough on the subject. I can say this though; in 30+ years of using this method I have yet to experience any ill effects using common sense and rubber gloves.

__________________
"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
Thucydides circa 460 bc - c. 400 bc

Metallic lead is chemically inert. Its toxicity is overrated for two reasons. One, it is confused with lead dioxide, salts, and other compounds that find their way into the bloodstream much easier. Two, some environmental groups want it to be toxic, hard evidence be damned.

Lead is of course solid under normal conditions, so its vaporization is negligible. Mercury as a liquid evaporates much quicker. It is also more reactive than metallic lead with the body's own chemicals. What happens next is statistics - some people get sick, others don't, like with tobacco and other exposures.

No substitute for using common sense when using any toxic material I'll grant you that. That said I wouldn't dismiss the use (which I realize you haven't done) of any toxic material based on government fear mongering.

If you shoot cast lead bullets I'd give the mercury a try; you'd be amazed at how easy barrel clean up is with it.

__________________
"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."
Thucydides circa 460 bc - c. 400 bc

If the gun is not malfunctioning I would not be concerned with the lead. Lead itself is a lubricant. I would just keep shooting the gun with plated/jacketed ammo. The lead will come out on it's own.

If the gun is malfunctioning I would take the barrel to a gun shop for an ultrasonic cleaning. If there is fouling on the feed ramp/chamber rim, there is more fouling in other areas of the barrel.

This is very dangerous and it will not cme out by shooting copper jacketed rounds over it. Lead fouling can easily lead to kabooms from the smaller bore diameter resulting from the fouling. The pressure will spike with very little lead fouling causing the gun to grenade on you if you switch to jacketed rounds. Lead fouling must be removed before switching from lead to jacketed rounds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercator

This is very interesting!

Regarding safety: Mercury can be inhaled as vapor at normal temperatures. It is much more toxic than metallic lead. I respect your experience, but would consider at least an OSHA mask.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oO_Rogue_Oo

Yes it is true that mercury vapor can be inhaled; much like lead vapor can when casting lead bullets. I wouldn't argue the difference in the hazard as to be quite honest I'm not knowledgeable enough on the subject. I can say this though; in 30+ years of using this method I have yet to experience any ill effects using common sense and rubber gloves.

Mercury was used for years by gunsmiths to quickly disoove lead fouling. Mercury vapors at room temperature over the course of 30-40 years often caused hat makers and other clothing makers as well as pewtersmiths to go mad from heavy metals poisoning.

Mercury is one of the few heavy metals that truly is dangerous and due to over hyping by environazis its dangers are often down played. This is a case of the nut who cried wolf too much.

There is a much less toxic dip that is used to clean fouling. Its 50-50 white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. It turns into lead acetate when lead is disolved into it. The vapors are harmful and the liquid is toxic but not nearly as badly as mercury.

Lead acetate is used as a sweetener for foods in china europe south america. Its also known as suger of lead and was widely used by the romans as a food sweetener...

If you choose a chemical means store the stuff in a marked container and most places have a toxic waste day every so often where you can drop it off. Don't do any of this stuff inside the home or garage or shop. The residue will build up and is costly to remove from living space. Don't dump it outside either especially if you ever plan on selling the property

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"Gun control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound." — L. Neil Smith

The problem with being stupid is you cannot simply decide to stop doing dumb things...